


Examination of the Hippocratic Oath

by Diary



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkwardness, Bechdel Test Fail, Brother-Sister Relationships, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Bruce Banner Has Issues, Canon Crossover, Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Character of Faith, Christian Character, Families of Choice, Friendship/Love, Late Night Conversations, Medical Procedures, Morally Ambiguous Character, Orthodox Catholic Wanda Maximoff, POV Bruce Banner, POV Male Character, POV Nonhuman, Pietro Maximoff Lives, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-08 01:20:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14093901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: AU. He’s already rehearsed all the ways to say no, I’m not going to deliberately kill Pietro while he’s on the table, but there is a very good chance he’s going to die. Complete.





	Examination of the Hippocratic Oath

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own The Avengers.

Ultron is gone, Clint and Natasha have gone to meet Laura, hopefully, before the baby is born, and he’s staring down at Pietro Maximoff’s cryogenically frozen body.

“SHIELD wants him," Tony says. "They have scientists who they think can safely perform the surgery while dealing with the genetic enhancements.”

“But you aren’t going to let them have him.”

“If you say no, I’ll have him transferred to a Stark facility until I can find someone else I trust. Johannesburg wasn’t your fault, Bruce. Wanda does bear some responsibility. That doesn’t wipe out the fact my weapons killed their entire family, and they’re only seventeen. If she becomes too much of a danger, I’ll help bring her down. But in the end, they both helped us, and he took literal bullets for Clint and a little kid. You don’t owe any of us anything, but I do owe them something.”

“I’m going to need to talk to his sister.”

He can’t fully read Tony’s body language.

“Tony, whatever my feelings towards her, despite never officially taking the Hippocratic oath, I have always believed in it, and I’ve always tried to follow it. I’m not going to be cruel, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to coddle her, either. If there’s any chance of this working, I’m going to need her blood, she’s going to need to know exactly what all I think could potentially go wrong with this, and then, she gets to decide if she wants to give blood and authorise me to try. If she says no, ship him away. If she says yes, you better make damn sure she understands that, if he dies, she played a part in it, and going after us or anyone else isn’t going to end well for her. I’ll deliberately set the other guy on her if I feel it’s the best option.”

“Okay,” Tony says. “I’ll call Steve.”

…

He thought he hated Ross, and he’s always felt vaguely guilty about this.

Now, he's sitting in Steve's apartment with Wanda across from him, and he doesn’t see a traumatised seventeen-year-old who grew up in a time of war and whose brother is frozen with bullets resting inside him.

He sees a sociopath, a monster, someone who deserves to be locked up with no meaningful human contact for the rest of her life, who should be studied so that others who have the potential to turn into a threat like her can be put down before they can do anything like what she and her brother did.

Aside from the disturbance at such strong cruelty flowing through him and knowing it’s all him, not the other guy, he’s aware of the hypocrisy.

Standing behind her, Steve has a hand protectively on her shoulder, and he feels an urge to ask Steve- she’s not a Nazi, and no matter how much he despises her, he’d never make the comparison. But Steve fought against people, some only a little older than her, who fought for people trying to take over the world, and he knows Steve rarely has any pity or empathy for those who were just following orders.

In her case, she doesn’t even have such an excuse; she and her brother chose to help Ultron attempt to take over the world on their own.

“I’m not a medical doctor. The ‘doctor’ in my title comes from my doctorates. I’ve practised medicine, but it’s not something I’ve ever been licensed to do. Do you understand?”

She nods.

He supposes, out of all her concerns, this is on the lower end. After all, she and her brother are in America illegally. SHIELD and Tony can only do so much in this case. They can keep her and, if he comes out of cryo alive, her brother off the radar of Immigration, but attempting to get them legal status would mean either forging many things or having it quickly discovered exactly what all she and her brother did and ending up with, at the very least, a warrant out for their arrests.

“Your brother would need blood. Your blood. In addition, I’d need to take a small sample to study, and I’d need to do an exam on you. All-”

“You can take all the blood you need. You can examine me,” she quietly says.

“I need to study the blood and examine you so that I have a better idea of how to approach treating him. All the files I've read on the two of you only give me abstract knowledge. Studying you will give me a slightly fuller idea of what I’d be dealing with.”

“I understand.”

“There are severe risks.” He taps the tablet in front of him, and a 3D, holographic projection of a figure on a bed appears. “The main one-”

Steve slams his hand on the tablet, and the projection disappears. “Bruce-”

“Hey, this is their meeting, cap, not ours, remember. Here I am, being quiet like we agreed, and here you are-”

“Tony.” Looking up at Steve, he says, “She’s free to say no at anytime, Steve. One word, and I’m more-than-happy to leave. But all this is necessary before I can accept a yes. Pietro Maximoff could die, and if he doesn’t, there are severe, potentially life-long risks. She’s his only family, and she’s old enough and mentally competent enough to make the decisions he can’t make on his own behalf. On my end, however, as much as possible, I need her to know exactly what the consequences of her choices could be.”

Wanda squeezes Steve’s hand. “It’s okay. I understand. Let him show me.”

…

“Do you have anymore questions?”

“What did he say to you?”

They all look over to where Tony is lounging on the couch with a tablet in hand, and glancing up, he responds, “Nothing. This is all the doc’s decision.”

She gives Bruce a slightly sceptical look.

“He said that he owed you and your brother something.”

“And you’re doing this for him.”

“I’m talking to you, because, he asked me to help your brother.”

She nods. “And so am I. I understand the risks, and I’m asking you to please try to save my brother’s life, Dr Banner.”

“Okay.” He stands. “Don’t eat anything until after your exam tomorrow morning.”

…

He’s looking down at Pietro when he hears, “Having second thoughts, big guy?”

Handing the papers over, he says, “I need you to go over this and see if you can figure something out.”

“Medicine is the one area I’ve never been able to become an expert in." The papers rustle. “SHIELD might have ways. Or they might not have the same guilt and hesitation you do.”

“I have nothing to feel guilty about.”

“Believe me, I’m behind that statement 110%. It’s just how you are. The first thing you did when you settled down here was find a way to replace shots with a painless delivery mechanism. You only think I’m exaggerating about how many parents and even kids have sent in marriage proposals, but I’m really not.”

Sighing, he rubs his eyes. “I’ll talk to her when Steve gets back.”

“I’m capable of playing chaperone by myself,” Tony offers.

…

Wanda looks at him intently, but he can’t decipher what all her expression holds.

“If you want to find another doctor to look over all this-” He sets the papers down in front of her. “From what I can gather, anaesthesia and other pain medications aren’t going to work on your brother. I can give him a skin numbing agent so that, hopefully, his body wouldn’t go into physical shock, but I don’t know how effectively this will work. Paralytic agents are unlikely to work, either. Your brother would have to be very heavily restrained, and the pain of doing this could kill him. If it didn’t, I have no idea what sort of mental trauma this could cause.”

“Pietro is strong. He can handle pain.”

“This isn’t ordinary pain,” he says.

“I’ve had surgery without anaesthesia,” Tony softly adds. “Not to this extent, but- The kind of pain the big guy here is talking about, it’s not the kind anyone can handle. The lucky can live without permanent psychological issues. The unlucky die or, some would say worse, they live, but they never have a day with true peace.”

Wanda picks up the papers. “I’ll talk to Steve when he gets back.”

Biting back the sarcastic reminder Steve isn’t a doctor, he stays quiet. For all the legitimate reasons he has to distrust and despise her, he knows his prickliness in this moment has little to do with her herself. He was desperately hoping she’d say no here and now, because, he really doesn’t want to be faced with cutting into an unanaesthetised person.

Yet, he can’t blame her for not. Pietro is her twin and the only remaining family she has.

…

The night before the surgery, Steve asks, “Could I talk to you about something, doc?”

He nods. He’s already rehearsed all the ways to say _no, I’m not going to deliberately kill Pietro while he’s on the table, but there is a very good chance he’s going to die_.

“Wanda’s an Orthodox Catholic. I’m, uh, not sure what all that entails, and I don’t know what all you believe and don’t believe-”

Despite the conversation taking a turn he hadn’t expected, this is something he’s familiar with. “Steve, I’ve treated people and the loved ones of people of various faiths over the years. If she wants to quietly pray in the operating room, bring in a religious leader before the surgery, anything like that, I don’t care. I’m not having anyone but you, her, and a suited up Tony in the room when it’s time for the actual surgery, and I’m not going to pray with her.”

A relieved look crosses Steve’s face. “Thank you.”

…

In the morning, the four of them take decontamination showers and put on scrubs, gloves, and masks before stepping into the cryogenic chamber. Tony’s assured him it’s been designed to contain both the twins and the other guy in the event of the surgery going utterly wrong, but as much as he trusts Tony, this offers little in the way of comfort.

Gas is pumped into the capsule containing Pietro, and he doesn’t bother trying to ignore the clear discomfort radiating from Steve. Beside Steve, Wanda has her head bowed and eyes closed, but she doesn’t seem to share the same discomfort.

The glass rises, the robots move the container to the table (with Tony giving his customary threats of what will happen if they drop it or put it in the wrong place), and the sides come down.

Then, the metallic restraints are secured over Pietro, and now, Wanda is almost as ashen as she was when they first met, and her eyes are pained. One of Steve’s hands is clasped through hers.

After injecting the necessary drugs and inserting the IVs, he begins.

It’s not long before Pietro’s eyes snap open, the bite guard is spit across the room, and inhuman screams fill the room.

“Pietro!” Wanda speaks rapid Ukrainian.

He wordlessly has the robot up the application of the numbing agent.

Thankfully, the restraints hold.

Unthankfully, Pietro goes into cardiac arrest.

Once this is taken care of, he allows himself to glance over.

Steve has his arms around a shaking Wanda, and tears fall from her eyes as she murmurs with her hands clasped together.

Tony catches his eyes, and he gives a tiny shrug.

The worst is far from over.

Of course, Tony being Tony decides to handle this by insisting on engaging Steve and Wanda into conversation, despite Steve’s clear desire to punch him over the chosen topic.

Cardiac arrest happens again, there’s a seizure, and the delirious, trapped Pietro yells and screams out his threats of destroying both the world and the Avengers.

He desperately wishes he could simply chalk this up to the understandable reaction of a man being tortured, but the fact he’s trying to save the life of a man who could and, in fact, has already tried to carry out such threats is settled heavily inside.

“You’re the monster- hypocrite- you’re the monster- torturing-”

“No, Pietro, Dr Banner is-” Wanda starts.

“Quiet,” he tells her. Finishing up some stitching, he has his gloves removed, hands sanitised, and another set put on. Then, he firmly pushes his hand over Pietro’s mouth. “Pietro, I’m assuming you’re starting to gain some coherency. You had four bullets in you. Now, you have three. Your sister asked me to get them out. I know this is literal torture. Whether you believe it or not, if there were any other way to do this, I would. There isn’t.”

He removes his hand.

Once some of the gasping dies down, Pietro croaks out, “W-Wan-Wanda?”

She’s immediately standing over her brother. “I’m here.”

Moving aside, he stands next to Tony. “Well, the good thing about not having a medical license-”

“Is that you can’t just up and join WHO or Doctors Without Borders, leaving me behind to figure out Combs’s Theorem on my own?”

“Dr Banner,” Wanda says.

He goes back over.

Pietro looks up with pain-filled, weary eyes. “Take the rest out, please, doctor.”

This can’t qualify as informed consent, but right or wrong, he'll take it.

…

Pietro manages to survive, and assuming there aren’t post-operative complications and assuming Pietro isn’t now completely insane (it’s far too early to even take a guess about the latter), he should make a full recovery.

He tells Steve, “He’s rapidly healing. It appears his genetic modifications are still holding. There’s a good possibility he’s not going to need physical therapy.”

“Thank you, Bruce. I know- I don’t think you’re ever going to forgive Wanda. After this, I guess I can’t hold that against you, but-”

Tapering down his offence and anger, he manages to calmly reply, “I’m surprised to find myself asking this, but do you care at all about those dead people in Johannesburg, Steve?”

“Yes,” Steve answers. “I do. She’s not completely innocent, Bruce, but she honestly didn’t know that her messing with your mind would cause Hulk to do that. I- Sometimes, I wonder what in the hell I was thinking. Back then, I was this skinny, sick kid from Brooklyn who had more determination than sense. I can admit that now.”

Sighing, Steve rubs his face. “That serum could have killed me. It could have turned me into something like the Abomination. I didn’t care about the first, and I probably would have been arrogant enough to believe the second couldn’t possibly happen if I’d known. I knew what was right, and I was going to find a way no matter what. Wanda and Pietro, they’re younger than I was, their family was dead, and their country was war-torn.”

“It doesn’t make what they did right, but- No matter how hard I tried to protect civilians, I know that some of them must have been caught in the crossfire of my actions. Kids might have suffered and died. I might have made orphans out of others. I hate those thoughts, but that’s war. It’s sometimes necessary, but it’s never right, it’s never fair, and it always leaves more pain than joy and peace, even when the right side wins and good changes come because of it.”

The anger and offence drains away. He’s not a soldier, he never will be, and as much as he used to try, he could never comprehend Ross’s worldview. Steve’s is easier, however. He realises, if not for Johannesburg, he could join the ranks of the others in having some sympathy for the twins.

“I’m sorry,” Steve says. “All I’m really trying to say is, I know none of this was easy or fair for you, and I want to thank you for doing it all anyways.”

“I’m sincerely glad that Pietro does have a good chance at making a full physical recovery. And for everyone’s sake, including his, I hope the same can be said about his psychological state,” he responds.

…

Wanda is wearing a black dress with a white veil.

Unlike his sister, Pietro is bouncing on the bed in casual clothes.

He does a quick exam. “Come right back after the service,” he repeats. “If you do communion with bread and/or wine, that’s fine, but no eating otherwise. Nothing else liquid-wise but plain water.”

“I understand, doctor. Wanda isn’t going to let me jeopardise my recovery.”

Nodding, Wanda gives him a tentative smile.

He leaves the room.

…

“The twins have finished moving into Steve’s apartment.”

He refuses to feel guilty. If they’d moved into Stark Tower, he would have moved out. But it wasn’t an ultimatum. He’s never said this, he never would have, and he would've done it quietly and without drama.

Someday, he’s going to leave, anyways. As much as Tony is trying to make sure this doesn’t happen, there’s going to be a day when it comes to working with them or walking, and whatever it says that he’d let the world potentially burn, he would rather than ever call himself an ally to either of them again, much less an actual teammate.

“Make sure, if they go into another situation with bullets, they’re better prepared,” he says.

“Already done.” Nudging his arm, Tony smiles. “Want to help me test out my newest suit?”

Smiling back, he answers, “Sure. Sounds like fun.”


End file.
